We're always fascinated to see how developers reach for new horizons within the App Store, and our New App Recap for this week certainly offers a number of unique solutions to very real problems. Whether you need to improve your vision without the need for reading glasses, paint without being an artist, or manage your work schedule with ease, we've got the apps you'll need to accomplish these goals, along with others for tackling email, keeping up with the latest news, finding a movie in the theater, tracking down the latest clothing styles, and tackling your reminders. It's one of our most productive recaps ever, so let's dig in!

iTunes Connect is off duty this week, so there are no new apps or updates being published until the weekend. In the meantime, we've got a heaping helping of great new apps worth checking out while developers are on break, including slick new ways to email or text, a better way to Instagram, how to find out where Apple Pay can be used, a new third-party keyboard, and much more! We'll be taking a break next week, so check back with us after the first of the year, and a happy holidays to all!

The holiday shopping season is in full swing, and we've got a bevy of new and updated apps coming to the rescue in this week's edition of the New App Recap. We'll kick things off with a personal shopping assistant, a new way to communicate with friends, and fast mobile food orders, then round things out with updates to favorite apps like PDFpen, Instapaper, and Amex Mobile. There's not a single Grinch in the bunch, so read on and get downloading!

Let's face it: The odds of us ordering a bunch of stuff online that we really don't need for dirt cheap prices this week and next are pretty high, so this week's New App Recap is kicking off with one of the best ways to keep tabs on all those packages heading to your doorstep. We've also got some great solutions for managing contacts, starting a group, ordering food from around the country, sharing our mood, and scribbling up seasonal ideas. Let's kick off our Thanksgiving edition right now!

This week's New App Recap features a compelling mix of productivity apps headlined by Post-It Plus, takes a detour through the revamped Google Play Newsstand, Path Talk, and Tweetbot for iPhone apps, reveals how rewarding shopping with Groupon can be, and even serves up an entire catalog of free documentary movies for good measure. Not sure where to begin? Why not start with our first new app, which is only a click away....

Last week was relatively quiet for new apps, presumably as developers got their hands on the gold master of iOS 8 and started preparing for an avalanche of updates ahead of the new iPhone. But don't worry: There's still plenty of cool stuff to be found, including a recent Disney storybook app, updates to your favorite Google apps, and even a Microsoft entertainment app for keeping tabs on your favorite celebrities. Be sure to come back next week for our roundup of the best iOS 8 apps!

Apple's big media event is almost upon us, but before you get distracted by shiny new toys, we've got another great roundup of new and updated apps that started touching down in the App Store over the last week. There's a little something for everyone including a few search and travel apps, plus a great new way to make photo collages from any iOS device. It's all ahead in this week's New App Recap!

ComiXology has long been considered king of digital comics, having created the technology that powers Marvel and DC's own apps. But with Amazon now in charge, the service appears to be changing for the worse.

When the App Store first launched, many developers made their dubious mark with tip calculators and fart apps, which eventually paved the way for more useful (but no less ubiquitous) to-do list apps ranging from utterly useless to absolutely awesome. The paid follow-up to a popular original, Checkmark 2 falls on the higher end of that scale, mostly because of how it intelligently uses geolocation data to create more useful reminders. The sequel also debuts a new Lists feature for organizing to-do items in a more traditional fashion.

Looks like the age of the iBeacon may finally be upon us, or so Shopkick hopes, anyway. After an apparently successful trial with stores like Macy's, other retailers such as Safeway and Giant Eagle grocery stores plan to use the technology at around 200 locations, and today American Eagle Outfitters announced that it'd try it out at 100 stores throughout the country.